Sodium : The Youthful Nutrient
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Mineral Nutrients Have Been Us from the Beginning
All forms of life share a mineral profile that mirrors the geochemical composition of the primeval seas where life began. Ronald J. Glasser, M.D., explains in his book, The Body Is the Hero, “The concentration of salts, of sodium, potassium and chloride in our bloodstream, the cobalt, magnesium and zinc in our tissues, are the same as those that existed in the earliest seas” (Glasser, 1979, p. 15). Saline fluids in our body nourish, cleanse, and protect us. We can replenish them daily with fresh water, sea salt derived from ancient sea beds, and plant and animal foods. Widely available, most Himalayan sea salt is harvested from a vast region of Pakistan which was once an inland sea that evaporated more than 500 million years ago (Saltworks, 2021).
Over the millennia, people valued sea salt as a vital food, furnishing life-sustaining minerals. Weston A. Price Foundation President Sally Fallon Morell explains that historically, “The quest for salt led to the development of the major trade routes in the ancient world.” She continues, stating, “If you look at a map of the world showing the major accessible salt deposits, there you will also see where civilizations developed—in Jordan, the Tigris-Euphrates, the Yellow River of China, the salt swamps in Persia, the deserts of Egypt and the Sahara; in the New World in Central America, the Andes and the Great Lakes; and finally on the seacoasts in areas of abundant sunshine, where salt could be obtained from evaporated sea water” (Morell, 2011).
Sodium In Our Body
Sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus comprise the six major minerals we require in amounts greater than 100 mg per day (McGuire & Beerman, 2019, p. 507). All six minerals function as electrolytes, dissolving into electrically charged ions in the body’s fluids. Sodium is contained 40 percent in the bone, some in other organs and cells, and the other 55 percent is in blood plasma and extracellular fluids. It readily bonds with chloride forming sodium chloride, the primary molecule in sea salt. Sodium, chloride, and potassium influence the volume of fluid in the body as well as blood pressure. While sodium and potassium are present in many foods, chloride is not but can be obtained from sea salt (Morell, 2021).
Bernard Jensen, D.C., N.D., called sodium the youth element because of its ability to keep the joints limber and pliable, explains Ellen Tart-Jensen in her book, Health Is Your Birthright: How to Create the Health You Deserve. Sodium works in conjunction with chloride and potassium in maintaining electrolyte balance. Tart-Jensen describes how sodium nourishes the lymph and helps hold fluids in areas where they are needed, such as around the eyes, sinus cavities, mouth, lungs, and around the joints. She further details how sodium normalizes glandular secretions, lubricates the cellular membranes, and maintains proper blood pH and the balance of water in the cells (Tart-Jensen, 2006, p. 20, 228).
It is important to keep in mind that every mineral our body needs has a toxicity level. Too high sodium levels (hypernatremia) can cause health problems, including bone loss, coma, confusion, edema, high blood pressure, irritability, lethargy, seizures, thirst, and weakness. High sodium levels may result from burns, dehydration, diarrhea, fever, kidney disease, or vomiting. (Smith, 2020, p. 87 – 89). Chemistry expert and educator Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. warns that commercial table salt, purified from mined halite and rock salt, typically co-occurs with compounds that present health risks and includes anti-caking compounds and other additives. She states that table salt provides poor-quality sodium, lacks other minerals essential to our health, and introduces toxic chemicals to the body that are well known to cause high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes (Helmenstine, 2019).
Sodium In Our Foods
Drawing from Jeffrey Bland’s book, Clinical Nutrition: A Functional Approach, Pamela W. Smith provides a list of foods that contain sodium. The list identifies the milligrams of sodium in 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of each food. Some of the top sodium-containing natural foods include: kelp, green olives, salt, cheese, scallops, lobster, Swiss chard, beet greens, buttermilk, celery, eggs. cod, and spinach (Smith, 2020, p. 88). A spectral analysis of the minerals in Himalayan pink salt shows all the major and trace minerals, electrolytes, and elements that Himalayan sea salt generally contains (The Meadows, 2021).
All forms of life share a mineral profile that mirrors the geochemical composition of the primeval seas where life began. Ronald J. Glasser, M.D., explains in his book, The Body Is the Hero, “The concentration of salts, of sodium, potassium and chloride in our bloodstream, the cobalt, magnesium and zinc in our tissues, are the same as those that existed in the earliest seas” (Glasser, 1979, p. 15). Saline fluids in our body nourish, cleanse, and protect us. We can replenish them daily with fresh water, sea salt derived from ancient sea beds, and plant and animal foods. Widely available, most Himalayan sea salt is harvested from a vast region of Pakistan which was once an inland sea that evaporated more than 500 million years ago (Saltworks, 2021).
Over the millennia, people valued sea salt as a vital food, furnishing life-sustaining minerals. Weston A. Price Foundation President Sally Fallon Morell explains that historically, “The quest for salt led to the development of the major trade routes in the ancient world.” She continues, stating, “If you look at a map of the world showing the major accessible salt deposits, there you will also see where civilizations developed—in Jordan, the Tigris-Euphrates, the Yellow River of China, the salt swamps in Persia, the deserts of Egypt and the Sahara; in the New World in Central America, the Andes and the Great Lakes; and finally on the seacoasts in areas of abundant sunshine, where salt could be obtained from evaporated sea water” (Morell, 2011).
Sodium In Our Body
Sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus comprise the six major minerals we require in amounts greater than 100 mg per day (McGuire & Beerman, 2019, p. 507). All six minerals function as electrolytes, dissolving into electrically charged ions in the body’s fluids. Sodium is contained 40 percent in the bone, some in other organs and cells, and the other 55 percent is in blood plasma and extracellular fluids. It readily bonds with chloride forming sodium chloride, the primary molecule in sea salt. Sodium, chloride, and potassium influence the volume of fluid in the body as well as blood pressure. While sodium and potassium are present in many foods, chloride is not but can be obtained from sea salt (Morell, 2021).
Bernard Jensen, D.C., N.D., called sodium the youth element because of its ability to keep the joints limber and pliable, explains Ellen Tart-Jensen in her book, Health Is Your Birthright: How to Create the Health You Deserve. Sodium works in conjunction with chloride and potassium in maintaining electrolyte balance. Tart-Jensen describes how sodium nourishes the lymph and helps hold fluids in areas where they are needed, such as around the eyes, sinus cavities, mouth, lungs, and around the joints. She further details how sodium normalizes glandular secretions, lubricates the cellular membranes, and maintains proper blood pH and the balance of water in the cells (Tart-Jensen, 2006, p. 20, 228).
It is important to keep in mind that every mineral our body needs has a toxicity level. Too high sodium levels (hypernatremia) can cause health problems, including bone loss, coma, confusion, edema, high blood pressure, irritability, lethargy, seizures, thirst, and weakness. High sodium levels may result from burns, dehydration, diarrhea, fever, kidney disease, or vomiting. (Smith, 2020, p. 87 – 89). Chemistry expert and educator Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. warns that commercial table salt, purified from mined halite and rock salt, typically co-occurs with compounds that present health risks and includes anti-caking compounds and other additives. She states that table salt provides poor-quality sodium, lacks other minerals essential to our health, and introduces toxic chemicals to the body that are well known to cause high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes (Helmenstine, 2019).
Sodium In Our Foods
Drawing from Jeffrey Bland’s book, Clinical Nutrition: A Functional Approach, Pamela W. Smith provides a list of foods that contain sodium. The list identifies the milligrams of sodium in 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of each food. Some of the top sodium-containing natural foods include: kelp, green olives, salt, cheese, scallops, lobster, Swiss chard, beet greens, buttermilk, celery, eggs. cod, and spinach (Smith, 2020, p. 88). A spectral analysis of the minerals in Himalayan pink salt shows all the major and trace minerals, electrolytes, and elements that Himalayan sea salt generally contains (The Meadows, 2021).
Michael T. Murray, N.D., in his book, The Complete Book of Juicing, describes the benefit of consuming sodium from plant foods. He states, “Because plants incorporate minerals from the soil into their own tissues, fruits and vegetables are excellent sources for many minerals. The minerals plants obtain in the earth are inorganic––lifeless. In plants, however, most minerals are complexed with organic molecules. This usually means better mineral absorption” (Murray, 1992, p. 28). Organic sodium is plentiful in celery, green leafy vegetables, okra, seaweeds, and turnips. Murray celebrates celery juice as being rich in potassium and sodium and recommends it as a great electrolyte replacement drink (Murray, 1992, p. 142).
References
Helmenstine, A. M. (2019). What is table salt? (website). Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-table-salt-604008
Morell, S. F. (2011). The salt of the earth (website). Retrieved from: https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/the-salt-of-the-earth/
Murray, M.T. (1992). The Complete Book of Juicing. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
Saltworks Himalayan Sea Salt. (2021). Himalayan sustainability (website). Retrieved from:
https://seasalt.com/salt-101/about-himalayan-salt/himalayan-sustainability.
Smith, P.W. 2020. What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs And So Much More. (2nd Edition). Garden City Park, NY: Square One Publishers.
Tart-Jensen, E. (2006). Health Is Your Birthright: How to Create the Health You Deserve. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts.
The Meadow. (2021). Minerals in Himalayan pink salt: spectral analysis (website). Retrieved from: https://themeadow.com/pages/minerals-in-himalayan-pink-salt-spectral-analysis.
Helmenstine, A. M. (2019). What is table salt? (website). Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-table-salt-604008
Morell, S. F. (2011). The salt of the earth (website). Retrieved from: https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/the-salt-of-the-earth/
Murray, M.T. (1992). The Complete Book of Juicing. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.
Saltworks Himalayan Sea Salt. (2021). Himalayan sustainability (website). Retrieved from:
https://seasalt.com/salt-101/about-himalayan-salt/himalayan-sustainability.
Smith, P.W. 2020. What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs And So Much More. (2nd Edition). Garden City Park, NY: Square One Publishers.
Tart-Jensen, E. (2006). Health Is Your Birthright: How to Create the Health You Deserve. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts.
The Meadow. (2021). Minerals in Himalayan pink salt: spectral analysis (website). Retrieved from: https://themeadow.com/pages/minerals-in-himalayan-pink-salt-spectral-analysis.
Amy Wing, Holistic Health Educator,
Nature’s Hearth
Website: www.naturesheart.net
Email: ajw.habitat@gmail.com
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